I’m so excited about 2015. And the reasons why all begin with our rebirth as The Writer’s Ally!
I started this business officially as Ambitious Enterprises in 2004 when I started freelancing full time after leaving my staff editor position at Simon & Schuster. So why the name change after all these years? Well, two very important reasons.
Reason #1 – It’s Not About Me, It’s About You
I started Ambitious Enterprises as a one-woman shop, and in the beginning, the name really referred to me. I chose “Ambitious Enterprises” because to me that’s totally what being independent is about. But also, I wanted to make a statement and take back the word “ambitious,” because I felt it was unfairly used with a negative connotation when applied to women. I will still jump all over anyone who uses it with anything less than admiration.
In my experience, this negative use of “ambitious” is almost always unconscious, but it’s a terrible reflection of the sexism that still runs very deep through American culture. At a recent conference, during a conversation in which I encouraged a peer to insist on fair payment for her work, another (woman) professional actually exclaimed with surprise, “Wow, you really are ambitious!”
My response? “I don’t really think it’s ambitious to insist on being treated fairly and not be taken advantage of, but I’ll take that as a compliment.”
So there was that.
But around three years ago, I started to grow a small team of skilled professionals as dedicated as I am, and I felt like the brand of the business needed to morph accordingly. We needed a name that wasn’t about me, something that was bigger and more accommodating. Something that was about the people we wanted to help.
A lovely gentleman who was a subscriber to my newsletter (and perhaps he still is—thank you Craig, if you’re reading this!) wrote and asked me why I had chosen Ambitious Enterprises as the business name. When I explained, he suggested that something else might be more effective in communicating to prospective clients what we really do.
I didn’t end up using his specific suggestions, but they prompted me to reconsider my direction and the message I wanted my brand to send, and his ideas gave rise to The Writer’s Ally.
Reason #2 – We’re Not Just Editors, We’re on a Mission
Perhaps more important than whether it was just me or a team of pros, the process of rethinking what I wanted prospective clients to know about us made me realize that what started as just making a living as a freelancer had become a mission without my even noticing.
Heck, in truth that mission was there all along, because it had always motivated me, even if I hadn’t been conscious of it. My work was and is about helping to bring more high-quality books to the world’s readers (including me!). And I believe that a successful writer is an educated writer. From the very first time I brought another editor in to serve one of my clients, it’s been important to me that I work with people who have solid industry knowledge and experience to share. The Writer’s Ally is here for you with all the power of that knowledge and experience so that you can trust and truly count on us to bring you the guidance and support you need to achieve your publishing goals and dreams.
Even though I recognized, and still believe, that writing and publishing a book is a very ambitious enterprise, I wanted our name to make a clearer statement about who we serve and who we are. “The Writer’s Ally” captures that perfectly. We serve writers like you; we’re here to help you put your best word forward as your ally in all your book publishing endeavors. And I’m very excited to say that the ways in which we do that will significantly expand this year.
We’ve always been about giving top notch, blow-you-away editorial feedback on your content. Over the next twelve months, we’ll bring that same passion and thorough, in-depth approach to services and products supporting your book publishing strategies and marketing efforts as well. Make sure you open our newsletter and emails (we don’t send them very often so as not to clog up your inbox) to find out about each new product, service, and program we launch this year. And if you aren’t on our mailing list yet, sign up now so you don’t miss a thing!
So there you have it, a little peek behind-the-scenes. While we already have some cool, and very helpful, new stuff in the works, I’d love to hear from you about what you’re looking for. What is your biggest challenge right now? What do you need? For what problems are you seeking a solution? Let us know in the comments below!
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